DiBenedetto And LFR Preview Martinsville

Matt DiBenedetto


No. 95 Toyota Express Maintenance Toyota Camry Notes:

·       MATT DIBENEDETTO BY THE NUMBERS: In eight Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career starts at Martinsville, Matt DiBenedetto has an average start of 31.8 and an average finish of 33.0 and he’s completed 3,497 of 4,005 (87.3 percent) career laps at the half-mile Virginia track.

·       THE TOYOTA EXPRESS MAINTENANCE DIFFERENCE: When your Toyota needs factory-scheduled service, Toyota Express Maintenance (TXM) helps keep our guests moving with quality, speed and value.  Toyota Express Maintenance provides precision service that’s precisely timed to fit within the busy schedules of Toyota owners.  The pit crew-inspired approach helps get our guests in and out quickly, all at the right price with the quality they expect from a Toyota dealer.  Toyota Express Maintenance emphasizes quality workmanship, competitive pricing and fast service. Services performed under Toyota Express Maintenance include oil and filter change, brake inspection, tire rotation, fluid inspection/replenishment and multipoint vehicle inspection. Additional expedited services are available.

·       RACE INFO: The STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway (0.526-mile) begins at 2:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 24th. The race will be broadcast live on FOX, Sirius XM Channel 90 and MRN Radio.

DiBenedetto’s Career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Stats at Martinsville:

Date                Event:                                                 S          F         Laps               Status

03/29/15          STP 500                                              43        31       494/500           Running

11/01/15          Goody’s Headache Relief 500            36        30       492/500           Running

04/03/16          STP 500                                              35        29       495/500           Running

10/30/16          Goody’s Fast Relief 500                     27        32       489/500            Running

04/02/17          STP 500                                              28        35       401/500           Crash

10/29/17          First Data 500                                     28        39       187/505           Electrical

03/26/18          STP 500                                              31        32       488/500           Running

10/28/18          First Data 500                                     26        36       451/500           Running

                        Races     Wins     Top 5s    Top 10s       Poles

Cumulative         8            0              0               0                0

DiBenedetto’s 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Season Stats:

Starts         Wins        Top-5’s     Top-10’s         Poles        Laps Led            Avg. Start       Avg. Finish

    5                0                 0                 0                  0                  49                       20.8                 24.2

DiBenedetto’s Career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Stats:

Starts         Wins        Top-5’s     Top-10’s         Poles        Laps Led          Avg. Start       Avg. Finish

145                0                 0                4                   0                   72                  30.8                      28.8

From the Driver’s Seat:

Matt DiBenedetto: “This year’s new package will still come into play a little bit this weekend at Martinsville, but not nearly as much as other tracks that we’ve been to so far.  This new package affects your braking getting in to the corner from the downforce, so it’ll actually give us more stability in entry and can change the approach to our car setup.  Having the big spoiler in the back and having a little more grip when you’re at the end of the straightaways is what we’re going to see this weekend.  We’ll have to adapt to how our Camry will change over the course of the run, so there will be some differences as to what we see on track.  This weekend will still involve us having to adapt at the race track, which is something that we’ve had to do all year, but it should be to a lesser degree.  We’ll be learning as we go since no one really has a lot of data yet.  Patience is the key to having a good run at Martinsville. Picking your battles wisely is also a focus because Martinsville is always a big mental game.  For me, I’ve had to learn better patience over the years in not using the bumper too much early and picking my battles.  Martinsville is about focusing on your race, letting other people make mistakes, being patient and just executing your race while being good in traffic, good on restarts, good on pit road, and all the things you can do to position yourself to be in a position to run well and be up front at the end of it.”

From the Pit Box:

Mike Wheeler: “This weekend at Martinsville, even with the new package, it will change Martinsville just a little bit compared to years past.  You will notice some of the downforce gains on the straightaways and entries/exits, but it shouldn’t change the center too much.  With all those small changes on entries and exits though, it’ll affect the racing per say.  You may end up fighting less forward drive issues as compared to years past, as well as less wheel-hop issues with the added downforce, however if you do have more straightaway speed, you’ll have more braking as well.  Ultimately, we’ll approach practice this weekend like we would have last year in the fact that you’ll want to make sure that you can turn center and get off the corner well for forward drive. It’s supposed to be nice and warm this weekend and sunny which means that the track will take some rubber, so it’ll have some of the same characteristics as Martinsville usually does, however the balance of center turn versus forward drive might be separated a bit compared to past years and that’s where we need to see what happens first in practice before we put it all together for the race.”

No. 95 Toyota Express Maintenance Toyota Camry Team:

Driver: Matt DiBenedetto                   Crew Chief: Mike Wheeler

Car Chief: Greg Emmer                     Spotter: Doug Campbell

Engineer: J.R. Houston                     Engineer: Etienne Cliche

Mechanic: Bill Mares                         Mechanic: Matt Kimball

Shock Specialist: Tim Lambert        Mechanic: Ryan Dextraze

Tire Specialist: Tony Ramirez          Jackman: Bailey Walker

Fueler: Ryan Dextraze                      Rear Changer: Deven Youker

Front Changer: Adam Hartman       Tire Carrier: Chris Hall

Hauler Driver: Damon Lopez

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.